Wastewater Discharge - It's Not Good For Lakes (Part 1)

TCEQ wastewater quality limits do not address many pollutants in wastewater, including pharmaceuticals, hormones and other organic compounds.

A recent study by the US Geological Survey shows that a broad range of chemicals found in residential wastewaters commonly occurs in mixtures at low concentrations downstream from wastewater discharge points. The chemicals include human and veterinary drugs (including antibiotics), natural and synthetic hormones, detergent metabolites, plasticizers, insecticides, and fire retardants.

Some of these contaminants are known to cause harm to aquatic species and may well cause harm to humans over time. These contaminants are referred to in articles by various names, including "micro-constituents", "constituents of emerging concern (CECs)", "estrogenic compounds" and "pharmaceuticals".

AP Article: Tons of Released Drugs Taint US Water (April 19, 2009)
Excerpt: " ..Last year, the AP reported that trace amounts of a wide range of pharmaceuticals -- including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones -- have been found in American drinking water supplies. Including recent findings in Dallas, Cleveland and Maryland's Prince George's and Montgomery counties, pharmaceuticals have been detected in the drinking water of at least 51 million Americans. Most cities and water providers still do not test. Some scientists say that wherever researchers look, they will find pharma-tainted water.

Consumers are considered the biggest contributors to the contamination. We consume drugs, then excrete what our bodies don't absorb. Other times, we flush unused drugs down toilets... Researchers have found that even extremely diluted concentrations of drugs harm fish, frogs and other aquatic species. Also, researchers report that human cells fail to grow normally in the laboratory when exposed to trace concentrations of certain drugs. Some scientists say they are increasingly concerned that the consumption of combinations of many drugs, even in small amounts, could harm humans over decades."  FULL ARTICLE

Note: Wastewater plant discharges are a source of these contaminants getting into our waterways- the plants are not designed for or required to deal with these contaminants.

Environmental Health News: Synopsis - Evidence for the migration of steroidal estrogens through riverbed sediments
" New research confirms that estrogenic contaminants can contaminate groundwater after being carried by sewage into rivers. Standard water treatment doesn't remove them from waste water effluent, so they pass from treatment plants into rivers. Once in river waters, this new research shows they can seep through river sediments and from there potentially into groundwater.
...The main purpose of treating sewage is to control disease by removing bacteria, but these plants do not necessarily take out all the pollutants...Concern is growing about WWTPs releasing chemicals with biological activity -- including nutrients, personal care products, estrogenic compounds and pharmaceuticals -- into the environment." FULL ARTICLE

Widespread Occurrence of Intersex Bass Found in U.S. Rivers
United States Geological Service Released: 9/14/2009 12:00:00 PM
"...Such compounds are chemical stressors that have the ability to affect the endocrine system and include pesticides, PCBs, heavy metals, household compounds such as laundry detergent and shampoo, and many pharmaceuticals. Yet other study sites with high occurrence of intersex were on rivers with dense human populations or industrial and agricultural activities, which are more generally associated with endocrine-active compounds."   FULL ARTICLE

Tackling Fish Endocrine Disruption  (USGS Web Article)
"A study of endocrine disruption in fish in Boulder Creek, Colorado, by USGS and University of Colorado scientists demonstrated how a complex mixture of endocrine-active contaminants in wastewater can have an additive effect on local fish (Vajda and others, 2008). Their paper in Environmental Science and Technology documented that the population of fish downstream of the wastewater discharge from a sewage treatment plant was dominated by females, and 18 to 22 percent of fish exhibited intersex." FULL ARTICLE

Pharmaceuticals, Hormones, and Other Organic Wastewater Contaminants in U.S. Streams  USGS Fact Sheet FS-027-02 June 2002
"A recent study by the Toxic Substances Hydrology Program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) shows that a broad range of chemicals found in residential, industrial, and agricultural wastewaters commonly occurs in mixtures at low concentrations downstream from areas of intense urbanization and animal production. The chemicals include human and veterinary drugs (including antibiotics), natural and synthetic hormones, detergent metabolites, plasticizers, insecticides, and fire retardants. One or more of these chemicals were found in 80 percent of the streams sampled. Half of the streams contained 7 or more of these chemicals, and about one-third of the streams contained 10 or more of these chemicals...Household chemicals can enter streams through wastewater discharges."   FULL ARTICLE

Direct Testimony of David Crews Ph.D., TCEQ Docket 2007-1426-MWD
"...there is unequivocal evidence that EDCs can influence not only the exposed individual, but also subsequent generations." FULL TRANSCRIPT